When vacationing in Italy, particularly when by the sea, you are essentially obligated to order the classic dish of spaghetti ai frutti di mare at least once. The above photograph depicts one of the three spaghetti ai frutti de mare dishes I consumed, specifically while in the coastal Italian village of Positano.

Tucked away in a quiet street in San Pancho is Hotel Cielo Rojo and its restaurant, Bistro Organico. I visited during Mexico’s off-season, so only a handful of locals and expats were out and about on that warm June morning.

I was on a small-group tour of Northern Germany, and Lubeck was our second stop. When I looked at the itinerary and saw that we would be visiting the headquarters of the world’s preeminent marzipan production company, I knew that we were in for a treat.

In the span of two days, I managed to eat three servings of Carnival’s famous warm chocolate melting cake — that means I ate one serving before lunch time. In my defense, I had just learned how to make the chocolate cake in a private tutorial with the kitchen staff.

A veteran of Taipei’s famous Shilin Night Market, my Taiwanese friend and night market guide, Evan, always goes caffeinated and prepared, clearly imagining his culinary targets and manifesting them like some sort of street-food-spirit-guru.

All the distress and distaste between coffee drinkers in the U.S. and down under led me to wonder: Does one country make better coffee than the other? Can one population handle its caffeine better?
Bent on resolving this mystery during my trip, I discovered a few key facts.

On a recent trip to Huatulco, Mexico, with my family, we found ourselves craving a taste of home. One evening, we ventured into the nearby town of La Crucecita where we heard there was some truly outstanding pizza — maybe some of the best anywhere in Mexico. We asked a few locals in town and each one knew exactly what restaurant we were talking about.

Whether I am at home or abroad, I love meandering through local food markets to see what the local hands and soil can come up with, and how the local chefs think. Israel’s markets (shuks) are among the world’s best, offering samples of traditional Mediterranean specialties in addition to local novelties inspired by the country’s range of cultures, people and religions.